


Katakirauwa

by Dancingdog



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon, Case Fic, Fluff, Gabriel Lives, M/M, mostly plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 04:52:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13182762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancingdog/pseuds/Dancingdog
Summary: Case fic. Team Free Will visit a pig farm and encounter a demonic piglet that steals human souls by running between their legs.





	Katakirauwa

“I don’t understand. Why are they sparkling? Vampires don’t sparkle,” frowned Castiel. He squinted at the television as if it had offended him personally. 

Dean cast a disinterested glance at the screen and wrinkled his nose. “A lot of teenage girls disagree.” He rubbed his hand over the angel’s stomach as he returned to playing some ridiculous game on his phone. Castiel shifted to lean his head against the hunter’s shoulder.

“Then they’re wrong,” huffed Cas but he didn’t switch to a different channel.

Gabriel dipped his hand into a bowl of never-ending Smarties he’d conjured up earlier. He ate seven and threw one at Dean’s head. Dean flipped him off. 

Gabriel smiled, pleased, and silently slid the bowl across the table to Sam, whose nose was practically touching his laptop screen, brows furrowed in intense concentration. The younger Winchester took a handful of chocolates without looking up and Gabriel smiled fondly as he dragged the bowl back. He had a cute human.

“So get this,” Sam began, suddenly straightening and Cas automatically muted the TV as Dean swivelled his head. Gabriel popped another handful of Smarties into his mouth.

“Two weeks ago, a family of four pig farmers in Austin, Texas start acting way out of character for no apparent reason. The father shoots three trespassing teenagers with a game rifle without batting an eyelid, killing all three. Then the mother kills him because, and I quote, _‘she was bored with their marriage’._ ”

Dean shrugged. “So? Farmers shoot things all the time. Sure, he shouldn’t have shot the kids, but they were trespassing and he was obviously trigger happy. Then the wife kills him because he probably had a temper. There are bad people in this world.”

Sam shook his head. “Yeah, but then she freely told people she’d killed him as if it was a normal thing to do and when she was taken to prison, her sons, twenty-three and seventeen, didn’t react at all. In fact, they didn’t react to anything, not even their father’s death. It says here the authorities found the guy’s corpse rotting on the drive where the wife had shot him nine days earlier. The sons hadn’t even moved it; just carried on farming. It was the twenty-year old daughter who called the police when she returned home from university one weekend. She was the only one who acted normally at finding her father dead.”

Dean frowned. “That does sound a little weird.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Dude, they drove over his corpse every day to get to different areas of the farm. He was flat when the police found him. I’d say that was more than ‘a little weird’.” 

“Alright, so maybe this is our kinda thing,” admitted Dean. “What are you thinking? Possession? Curse?”

Sam glanced back to his laptop. “The article seems to be getting at the lack of emotions from all four. They just… didn’t care what happened to each other or themselves.”

“Like they had no souls,” finished Dean with a grimace. The soulless version of Sam still brought him nightmares sometimes. 

“Exactly. But I can’t be sure unless we take a look around. It could just as easily be a few demons or ghosts having some fun,” said Sam and Dean nodded.

“We'd better start packing. I need to put some gas in Baby too.”

Gabriel raised a hand. “I could transport us there in a jiffy.”

Dean shot him a filthy glare, his stomach turning at the idea of flying _Angel Express_. “No.”

Gabriel shrugged and threw another dozen Smarties into his mouth.

“Fine, but I get to molest your brother in the back seat.”

 

* * *

 

The drive down to Austin was long and tedious and Gabriel did indeed molest Sam in the back seat in full view of their brothers until the Winchesters switched seats so Dean could rest.

They stayed at a cheap, run-down motel which Gabriel took immediate disliking to and set off making improvements to the second he walked into his room with Sam. The others saw no reason to complain. Gabriel was fantastic at decorating anyway.

The next morning, the Winchesters donned their FBI badges and made their way to the farm, the angels in tow.

The farm was huge. Green stretched for acres, the occasional crop plantation dotted within the landscape and strong, wooden fences trailed their way over the fields. Pigs of various patterns and colours lolled on the grass or rolled in shallow mud pools, their offspring trotting around them happily, grunting with delight when their mothers began to play. 

“Agents Ragsdale and Ehart,” introduced Dean as he and Sam held up their badges in unison when a young, blonde girl with red eyes and a fistful of tissues answered the door to the large farmhouse. He gestured behind him. “This is Morse and Greer. We’re here about Mr. Ogden.”

The girl, Rachel Ogden as the newspaper had identified her, swiped at her eyes and frowned at them distrustfully.

“I’ve already talked to the police. My father killed some kids and my mom shot him. What more do you need to know?” Her voice cracked and Sam snapped on his patented puppy face.

“We understand this is a difficult time but we believe something else is going on here. Were your parents usually so… trigger happy?”

The girl hesitated. “…No.” She scowled. “What do you mean _‘something else is going on’_?”

“We’ve seen dozens of cases like this around here,” lied Dean. “Maybe not quite as severe as what’s happened to your family, but there have been a few reports of out-of-character behaviour around these parts. We’re thinking contaminated food product, but we’re not sure yet.”

Rachel looked alarmed before she narrowed her gaze suspiciously. “Why haven’t I heard of these cases?”

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that, ma’am,” replied Dean, tone hard and professional as Sam jumped in with his empathetic role.

“Could we come inside? We’d just like to ask you a few questions. It won’t take much time.”

Rachel eyed them sceptically for a few moments. “It takes four of you to question me?”

Dean gestured towards the angels. “Rookies learning the trade. We’re teaching them the ins and outs of the job. You’ll speak to us and they’ll sit quietly in the corner taking notes.”

There was a snort from Gabriel but one glare from Castiel shut him up.

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “I suppose you’ll be wanting to speak to my brothers as well?” She looked troubled.

Dean nodded. “If they’re around.” Cas and Gabe would be able to tell if they were soulless or possessed.

She nodded and fingered the walkie talkie at her hip. “I’ll call them when we’re done.”

“Much appreciated,” rumbled Dean as she stepped aside for them.

She asked them their drink preferences as they settled on the couch and disappeared into the kitchen when they began to assess the living area. It was cluttered; wellingtons and boots and coats scattered around and magazines and gloves littering the coffee table. Empty bottles of milk and baby wipes were strewn over the floor and in the corner lay a dog bed, an old Border Collie sitting in it as she sized the strange new men up. After a few seconds, she plodded over, sniffed her guests and lay her head in Sam’s lap. Sam stroked her lovingly and Gabriel stared jealously.

Rachel returned with a tray of five large mugs of tea and coffee. Sam grinned at a cup he could finally get his hands around.

“Alright. What would you like to know?” Rachel sighed.

“We appreciate you giving us your time, ma’am. May I ask where you were at the time of your father’s death?” Asked Dean, easing her in before he started asking useful questions that would sound strange to any lay person.

“College Station. I attend the veterinary school over there. I didn’t come home until the next weekend, nine days later. He was lying on the drive,” her voice broke and she swabbed her eyes with a tissue.

Sam offered her a small, apologetic grimace. “What did you do then?”

“I called the police, then tried to find my mother and brothers. I found my brothers and they seemed to already know about Dad. They just carried on feeding the sows and said Mom had gone shopping. Then they told me Mom shot Dad as if it was no big deal.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks freely and the dog whined softly and padded over to her, nuzzling at her hand.

“The police came, took Dad and when Mom came home, they took her too. We got the coroner’s report a couple of days later and it said Dad had been dead for nine days before I’d found him.” She sobbed brokenly. “Nine days! They left him on the drive for nine days!”

“Did your parents ever argue?” Asked Sam softly and Rachel nodded. 

“All the time. Their marriage had been falling apart for years. They barely spoke to each other because the farm took so much of their time.” She scowled. “But my Mom wasn’t the murdering type. My father had a temper but he would never kill teenagers. Scare them, sure, but to shoot them in the head? It was like… they were completely different people.” She shook her head. “I think my brothers are traumatised. They witnessed everything. That’s the only reason I can come up with for the way they’re acting.”

“And in what way are they acting?” Asked Dean and Rachel stared into her cup for a few moments before answering quietly, almost nervously.

“As if everything’s fine. As if nothing’s happened. They get up, clean and feed the sows and piglets, then get on with whatever job they’re supposed to do that day, before feeding again and going to bed. It’s like watching a pair of ghosts. They talk to each other like everything’s normal, only thing is I’ve not seen them eat and when I went into Danny’s room one night to talk, he was lying in bed with all the lights off and his eyes wide open. My older brother, Harry, is the same. They go through all the motions, but I’ve never actually seen them sleep. Just… staring at nothing.” She huddled in on herself. “It’s freaking me out.”

Sam and Dean shared a look. Definitely sounded like a soulless vessel. Question was what was going around stealing souls?

“Do you think something could be contaminating the food?” Rachel asked worriedly and Sam made a show of thinking. 

“Could be. Have you seen anything else unusual? Lights flickering, weird cold spots, black smoke, sulphur?”

Rachel stared at them wide-eyed. “…Are those all side effects of eating bad meat or veg?”

Dean quirked his lips and shook his head. “No, but they could be what’s causing the spoilage. Or a side effect of it.”

Rachel nodded slowly and paused as she thought about the past fortnight. 

“No, I… I don’t think so.”

Dean frowned. “Nothing? Not even a lamp flickering?”

Rachel shook her head. “Power’s pretty good around here.”

“No strange sounds in the middle of the night?” Prompted Sam. “Out-of-place smells?”

Rachel raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re on a pig farm. There’s nothing but strange sounds and awful smells. All day and all night.”

Sam pursed his lips. “No objects falling off shelves or weird substances staining floors or walls?”

Rachel looked to be getting irritated. “I have a dog. Plenty of things fall off shelves. And as for weird stains? Check the pig sheds, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of those.” She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of agents are you? How does any of this relate to food poisoning that my family may have acquired?”

“We have to ask certain questions, ma’am,” said Dean, holding his hands up placatingly. “We understand they may sound strange, but it’s just standard procedure.”

“Can I see those badges again?” 

Sam and Dean obliged and she squinted at them before handing them back warily. To the untrained eye, they seemed legitimate.

“Before we continue, is it possible for me to use the bathroom?” Asked Dean and Sam immediately latched onto his line of thinking, plotting questions to ask their host to give his brother more time. Rachel nodded.

“Up the stairs, first door on your left.”

Dean smiled charmingly and vacated the room.

“So, what meat products do you and your family consume?” Sam began.

 

* * *

 

Dean crept into the bedroom at the end of the corridor, running his hand under all the surfaces and rifling through draws and checking under the bed for any hidden hex bags. He found none so moved onto the next room, then the next. Upon returning to the corridor empty handed, Dean scowled in confusion and trudged down the stairs again, giving a subtle shake of his head towards Sam. His brother’s mouth tugged downwards.

“Can we talk to your brothers?” Sam asked and Rachel hesitated a fraction too long before bringing the walkie talkie to her lips. 

“There are agents here to talk to you both,” Rachel said quietly. “They want you in the yard.” She didn’t give them time to respond and they never did anyway before she ushered the four men into the yard outside the house.

“They’ll meet you here,” she said before shutting the door in their faces and they realised she was scared of her brothers.

Dean turned to Sam. “You and Gabe go look around. Maybe you’ll have more luck than I did. Cas and I’ll question the brothers.”

Sam nodded and gestured for Gabriel to follow him, which the archangel did without complaint. 

They wandered around the storage sheds, looking for hex bags and sigils and any other signs of magic or supernatural activity but when they found nothing, they wandered into one of the pig sheds.

There was a cacophony of excited squealing and Sam’s lips quirked upwards as a dozen black piglets clambered over each other and their mother to sniff at him through the fence. He leaned down to pet one and it nipped at his finger, tugging at it in hopes milk would flow out of it. The mother grunted at him but he figured he was safe as long as he stayed on the other side of the fence.

Gabriel leaned against the fence beside him, silently watching his lover interact with the young piglets. 

“Think Dean will let me bring one home?” Sam joked and Gabriel quirked a grin. 

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Three more piglets sucked at his fingers and Sam chuckled at their wiggling tails. He carefully extracted himself from their tiny teeth and moved further along the shed, checking for any signs of magic. At the bottom end lay an exhausted black sow. A dozen piglets curled into her, all of them half the size of the ones Sam had just been playing with. They were quiet and still and Sam watched them wordlessly, noting how they’d all piled under a large heat lamp.

A pair of arms wound around his middle and he smiled contentedly as Gabriel trailed sweet kisses over his back. The angel liked to pretend he didn’t enjoy affection but the rest of Team Free Love (as so dubbed by Gabriel) knew the archangel was happiest when they were all together and safe. Even if he and Dean argued like cats and dogs, Sam knew Gabriel would give his life to save Dean and vice versa. That’s one of the reasons Sam loved him so much.

“Too bad I’m wearing a suit,” murmured Sam. The blazer was dulling the feeling of Gabriel’s gentle kisses against his spine.

Gabriel smirked. “I can solve that and the trouser problem if you wish?” 

Sam rolled his eyes and turned to place his hands on Gabe’s hips.

“And here’s me believing you were thinking with you heart instead of the organ between your legs.”

Gabriel grinned wickedly. “Who says I can’t do both?”

Sam shook his head as a smile twitched at his lips and he slotted their mouths together sweetly.

“I refuse to let you corrupt the piglets.”

Gabriel chuckled and let Sam return to watching the animals, his hands draped loosely around the hunter’s middle.

One by one the piglets began to stir and they stumbled their way over to their mother. She heaved a sigh as they latched onto her teats and he frowned when all but one piglet squabbled for milk. The last one remained curled under the heat lamp. Sam wondered if it was sick.

Suddenly, Gabriel stiffened behind him and Sam reflexively reached for his knife. Over the years he’d learned to read Gabriel’s body language and that sharp stiffen and slight change in air pressure meant Gabriel had caught wind of something he didn’t like and was searching the area with his grace. He tightened his grip on Sam fractionally.

“There’s a demon here,” he said quietly, almost hesitantly as if he wasn’t entirely certain of his own words. “But I can’t locate it.”

Sam raised an eyebrow as he pulled his knife from its cover. Gabriel being unable to locate a demon was a definite cause for concern. Archangels could locate almost anything which could mean this was a highly powerful demon, or a highly intelligent one that could evade detection; both worrisome options.

“What does it feel like?” Asked Sam, voice hushed and Gabriel was silent for a few moments as Sam felt that subtle shift of air pressure, a sort of energy building around them.

“It’s weak. Primitive. An instinctual evil rather than a calculated one,” replied Gabriel. “Its power is too weak for me to latch onto and it doesn’t seem to be all that active.”

Sam glanced around the shed but couldn’t see any people lurking within it. He took one last glance at the piglets and led Gabriel out of the shed. No use in standing around and making themselves vulnerable to attack. They bumped into Dean and Cas on their way out and the four headed back to the car and out of hearing range of the family before they discussed their findings.

“The brothers are soulless,” confirmed Castiel. “There was no light within either of them.”

Dean nodded. “They were completely emotionless. They didn’t care about anything. Looked like a couple of zombies.”

“No hex bags or sigils, but I felt a demonic presence within the pig shed. It was weak and seemed instinct driven, but it was a demon nonetheless,” said Gabriel. “Only problem was I couldn’t locate it.”

Dean frowned. “So no black smoke, no sulphur but definitely a demon and one even an archangel can’t locate? Do you think Rachel was lying? Maybe she’s possessed.”

Castiel shook his head. “Her soul was bright; no corruption within it. She wasn’t a demon.”

“You said it was inactive,” mused Sam as he glanced at Gabriel. “Is it possible it’s… injured or something?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Not sure. Although if it is I can’t see it stealing souls. It wouldn’t have the energy.”

“Maybe it’s gone rogue?” Suggested Dean. “A rogue demon taking souls early. Hell’s in a bit of a turmoil, what with Lucifer and Crowley hunting each other, so maybe demons are starting to break the ten-year deal thing.”

Castiel shook his head. “That would mean that whole family would have had to visit a cross-roads demon. If they didn’t, the demons would be taking innocent souls and Heaven wouldn’t allow that.”

“The angels haven’t exactly always had our backs,” Dean pointed out.

“No, but things are getting better now. They would put a stop to a few wayward demons.”

“What if… what if they’re trying to protect themselves?” Murmured Sam, troubled and both angels turned to look at him as Dean flicked his gaze to his mirror.

“What do you mean?”

“The British Men of Letters are threatening to exterminate every monster in America, from wendigos to angels. What if… what if the demons are building an army? Collecting souls to protect themselves and strengthen their forces. Abaddon did it once before,” said Sam and Dean glanced to Castiel for reassurance. The angel looked uneasy.

“It’s possible,” he admitted as Gabriel nodded and both Winchesters fell silent. That was a terrifying thought. 

“…But once again, it is unlikely. Heaven’s forces would put a stop to it once they caught wind of it,” Cas concluded but Dean didn’t look convinced.

“They’ve let us down before, man. And maybe this is just the beginning. The first of many.”

Cas looked unhappy but he didn’t say anything. Gabriel wasn’t quite as reserved.

“The demon I felt was weak. Far too weak to be harvesting souls.”

“Maybe the harvesting weakened it,” argued Dean but Gabriel shook his head.

“Four souls. It took four souls practically all at once. That takes a lot of power. No ordinary demon can do that. And this thing isn’t calculating its attacks; it’s running off instincts.”

Dean frowned. “Fine. We’ll go back to the motel and look some things up and when we go back out tomorrow, we’ll ask a few more questions. We should probably ask the brothers if they’ve seen any smoke or sulphur around anyway.”

Gabriel nodded, satisfied and Dean flipped the radio on. They all groaned when _‘Heat of the moment’_ blasted through the speakers.

 

* * *

 

Dean awoke to his angel in his arms. Castiel didn’t always sleep because he didn’t need to but he enjoyed Dean’s company and often wormed his way into his bed when there were no pressing matters. Dean adored waking up to his furnace of an angel, even if Castiel had a tendency to watch him sleep.

He pressed his lips to the back of Cas’ neck and the angel automatically rolled over to pull Dean to his chest. He grumbled softly and Dean chuckled because Cas didn’t often sleep, but when he did it was clear he wasn’t a morning person.

Dean smoothed a hand over Cas’ bare back and kissed his chest.

“Mornin’, darlin’,” whispered Dean and Cas made a sound of protest before tugging him closer.

Dean nuzzled his collar bone before lightly skirting his fingers over the angel’s sides.

“Gonna make breakfast. You want some?” He asked and Castiel was quiet for a moment.

“What are you making?”

“Pancakes,” murmured Dean as he placed his lips against the angel’s throat and Castiel hummed softly in approval.

“Alright. Yes, please,” he muttered and Dean grinned because for some reason he took joy in when Castiel ate with them instead of watching them. He leaned up to kiss Cas’ cheek and the angel squeezed him happily before he rolled out of bed.

When he arrived in the kitchen, Gabriel was already there, actually making coffee instead of snapping it up. 

“Mornin’, Princess,” Gabriel greeted cheerily as Dean shuffled into the room and Dean rolled his eyes as he snagged the eggs from the fridge. After throwing the obligatory fifteen teaspoons of sugar into his own coffee, Gabriel sidled up to the older hunter and pushed a hot cup into his hands.

Dean sipped at it gratefully as he started creating batter mix and Gabriel leaned against one of the cupboards as he watched. 

It was a ritual they’d grown accustomed to. If Dean was cooking breakfast (which happened more often than not because Sam had a tendency to burn things), Gabriel would wander into the kitchen, offer him coffee and chat to him. It was pleasant and Dean enjoyed Gabriel’s company more than he was willing to admit, even when they were trading insults.

“I was thinking maybe you and Cas could explore the farm whilst Sam and I question the brothers,” said Dean as he poured the batter into a pan. “Maybe you’ll have a better chance of locating the thing if there’s two of you.”

Gabriel swirled his coffee around its cup.

“Sounds good,” he hummed. “We’ll finally have some girl time to gossip about you two,” he winked and Dean chuckled softly.

“Why do you think I want to go with Sam?”

Gabriel grinned and watched Dean flip the pancake. Castiel appeared at the doorway.

“And if it isn’t Prince Charming himself,” said Gabriel as he held out a coffee for Cas. The younger angel accepted it and settled beside his brother, watching Dean cook.

When Sam was showered and dressed, they settled at the table to eat and whilst Cas didn’t always consume food, it was guaranteed that Gabriel would and Dean felt slightly nauseous upon watching the angel pour mountains of syrup, blueberry and raspberry jam, chocolate sauce and sugar all over his pancake tower. Cas squinted at the sticky mess and Sam merely rolled his eyes and ignored the archangel’s antics.

After they’d eaten, Dean showered and they hopped into the Impala and made their way to the farm. Once there, they separated off into pairs, with Gabriel leading Cas around the farm and Sam and Dean searching for the Ogden brothers.

Sam furrowed his brow when they approached the other men because their gazes were blank and their movements mechanical. 

Zombies indeed.

“Hey, fellas,” said Dean, not bothering to flash his badge because the brothers would tell them anything they asked anyway. They had no emotions and it seemed they had no reason to lie.

Daniel and Harry glanced up at them but didn’t cease working.

“Was wondering if you’ve seen any black smoke these past couple of weeks?” Asked Dean bluntly. Might as well get straight to the point; no tricky emotions to deal with so no point in pussyfooting around and easing them into questioning.

“No,” Harry said, forking straw into a wheelbarrow as his brother filled some buckets with a hose.

“Smell any sulphur?” Dean asked. “Rotten eggs, that kind of thing?”

Harry shook his head.

“Anyone with black eyes roaming around?” Asked Sam and Daniel shrugged.

“No.”

Sam and Dean frowned. 

“You sure?” Asked Dean and both brothers nodded.

The Winchesters glanced at each other before Sam cleared his throat.

“Alright then, how’d you lose your souls?”

That got a reaction. Harry and Daniel finally turned to the older brothers and stared unnervingly at them for a few moments.

“We’ve lost our souls?” Harry asked and Sam nodded, just to gauge their reaction.

“Oh,” Harry said before turning back to the pile of straw. He grabbed his fork and resumed heaving it into the barrow. Daniel said nothing, merely poured more water into the buckets.

Sam and Dean blinked. That wasn’t the reaction they’d been expecting.

“Any idea how you lost your souls?” Sam pressed. He remembered losing his soul. He hadn’t become a zombie like these two were. He’d been emotionless, but he hadn’t been quite so mechanical. “Because it usually only happens when you’ve been making shady deals with demons.”

“Never met a demon,” murmured Daniel and Dean frowned.

“So you’ve never been to a crossroad? Never made a bargain for something you really want? Traded your soul for money or a pretty girl or bigger… equipment?” He glanced to his own crotch and back up again.

The brothers shook their heads.

“No,” they answered in unison and Dean and Sam glanced at each other once more in confusion.

“You’re sure?” Sam asked helplessly and the brothers nodded again, leaving both Winchesters at a loss.

In one last-ditch attempt at cracking the puzzle, Dean silently unscrewed his flask of Holy water and splashed it in the brothers’ direction when they had their backs turned. Nothing happened.

Bewildered, the Winchesters made their way to one of the pig sheds, where they’d seen their angels sneak into.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Cas were having little luck in discovering anything remotely magical or demonic. No sulphur or blood or chicken feet. Just pigs.

Gabriel eventually decided they should return to the pig shed he and Sam had entered the previous day; maybe they’d be lucky and the demon had stayed in the same position overnight. 

They walked the length of the shed, Cas entranced by the tiny piglets and Gabe grinned and shook his head at his brother’s love for anything furry. Castiel could be so innocent sometimes. 

Suddenly, both angels stiffened as they felt an evil presence nearby. The problem was they couldn’t pinpoint where it was and Gabriel could feel his brother’s grace radiating confusion and frustration. The presence was most certainly demonic but to the angels, it was a little like watching someone from the corner of your eye; you couldn’t quite make out who they were or how far away they stood, but you knew there was someone there. 

Gabriel pulsed his grace over a twenty-metre radius but he still couldn’t locate the demon and his mouth drew into a thin line as Castiel visually scanned the shed.

“It’s not moved. I can still only sense it within this shed,” muttered Gabriel. 

“Or maybe it has moved and this shed is the only location which allows us to sense it,” murmured Castiel. He walked a few paces to test whether his perception of the presence would grow stronger. It didn’t.

“How can it evade detection from both of us?” Mused Gabriel and Cas shook his head. 

“I’m not sure. It seems as primitive as you explained it would be. More instinct-driven than anything else. It doesn’t appear to possess any great intelligence.”

Gabriel frowned. “Maybe it’s not really a demon? Maybe it just feels similar to one, like the qareen.”

Cas nodded slowly. “Possibly. It would explain why we can’t locate it.”

They startled when the door flew open and they instinctively produced their blades, gripping them tightly until they caught a glimpse of who had entered the shed.

Rachel paused, staring at them in surprise before her brow furrowed and she narrowed her gaze.

“What are you doing in here?” She demanded and both angels quickly hid their blades.

“Agents Ragsdale and Ehart are currently engaged in discussion with your brothers,” explained Castiel. “Some new evidence has caused us to re-evaluate the case. We’ve been asked to test the water supply to the animals for metallic chlorides.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “You think the water supply has poisoned the animals? Wouldn’t that affect their behaviour as well?”

Castiel shook his head. “We believe they are more tolerant of the chemicals than the human central nervous system is.”

Rachel nodded, appeased for the moment.

“Well, I’ve got to bottle feed some piglets, so don’t let me stop you.”

“Thank you,” said Cas. “Apologies for failing to announce our presence.”

Rachel offered him a small smile and made her way to the pen at the far end of the shed. She kneeled on the floor and held a large milk bottle to one skinny piglet’s nose and it grunted once before clumsily taking the teat into its mouth and sucking.

Cas and Gabe made their way over to a tap crouched in front of it so it looked as though they were testing it.

“How old are those piglets?” Gabriel asked to break the silence and Rachel quirked a smile when the small black creature pulled away from the teat with a satisfied squeak. Its tail wriggled as it trotted off towards the heat lamp and she moved towards another piglet.

“Six days,” she replied and Gabriel caught Castiel’s lips quirk upwards. His brother had such a soft spot for animals.

“Why are you bottle feeding them? Why not let the mother feed them?” Gabriel asked and Rachel glanced over to him.

“The bigger ones don’t always let the little ones have a turn and sometimes the weaker ones don’t have the strength to find and stay on the teat. They have a habit where they suck on tails instead of teats. For the first couple of weeks we bottle feed a few.”

Cas turned the tap off and both angels made their way over to the pen to watch the little creatures.

“What breed are they?” Asked Cas as Rachel marked something in a notebook she’d pulled from her pocket.

“Jeju Black pigs. Originated in Korea. Supposedly one of the most flavoursome breeds.”

Cas’ mouth turned down a little and Gabriel knew his brother wasn’t fond of hearing the fate of the cute little piglets. He doubted Dean would have the same issue.

Suddenly, Rachel scowled and glanced around the pen before turning back to her notebook. 

“That’s strange. My dad marked that this sow only had eleven piglets, but I count twelve. My dad never got anything like that wrong. He was meticulous about note taking.”

She glanced around the pen again, counting the piglets.

“Definitely twelve.” She shrugged and scribbled something down before moving to bottle feed a scrappy piglet that didn’t seem to be moving. She pressed the bottle to its nose but it remained curled under the heat lamp. She prodded it a bit to get it to straighten and when it finally uncurled she gasped and bent down to stare at the creature.

“Oh, poor thing,” she murmured as she picked it up. It didn’t protest but both angels could immediately see what was wrong with it. 

It only had one ear.

Cas squinted at the creature. There was something else odd about it but he couldn’t quite work out what it was. The piglet’s back was facing him but something about it didn’t look right. He gazed at the other piglets to see if he could figure out what was bothering him, but other than the ear issue, everything else looked the same.

Rachel tried the bottle again but when the piglet curled up in her arms, she frowned and made her way to the gate.

“I’ll put this in isolation. If it was born with one ear it probably has a number of problems so I’ll keep a closer eye on it. I wouldn’t like the others to be at risk of catching anything either.”

She hugged the creature to her chest and swept past Cas and Gabe. Once she closed the door behind her, it wasn’t long before Sam and Dean slipped in.

“Well, we learned jack squat so please tell me you found something useful,” stated Dean as he and Sam made their way over. 

“The demon’s presence is weak,” muttered Cas. “In fact, I can’t feel it all now. Gabriel and I were wondering if maybe it’s not really a demon.”

“Well what is it?” Asked Sam and Gabriel shrugged.

“Could be any number of things, I suppose. A lot of creatures give off a similar aura of evil to that of a demon’s.”

“That’s useful,” Dean grumbled as he glanced around the shed. He frowned. “I thought pigs were pink?”

“These are Jeju Black pigs,” supplied Castiel helpfully. “From Korea.”

Sam blinked in that way that told everyone he’d just had an idea. “Maybe we should do some research on Korean demonic creatures? Perhaps it isn’t a regular demon.”

“Great,” announced Dean. “You guys research and I’ll question some witnesses.”

Sam scowled. “Oh no. You’re helping. I’m not staying in the motel researching again whilst you go out and attempt to get Cas drunk. Besides, there are no witnesses to question.”

“What about the people Mrs. Ogden told about her husband’s murder? Maybe they can shed some light on any demonic signs.”

Sam shot him a bitchface and Dean huffed and crossed his arms.

“You’re the reader; I’m a man of action.”

“Tonight, you’re not.”

Dean grumbled under his breath as they left the farm.

 

* * *

 

“So get this,” Sam began after two hours of fruitless research. The others glanced up from their phones and/or books. “Dokkaebi, or Korean goblins, possess extraordinary powers and abilities. Some attempt to help people, others try to hinder them. There are different types but it says here that the Gae dokkaebi are evil and are believed to be responsible for many disasters in Korean communities. Their cousins, the Cham dokkaebi, are mischievous and tend to play pranks on unsuspecting humans.”

“Sounds like Gabe,” snorted Dean and Gabriel shot him a filthy glare.

“I play pranks on people who deserve it. Like you.” He threw a Haribo at Dean’s face. “And I don’t consider stealing someone’s soul and watching them walk around like a zombie a prank.”

“But you don’t mind hitting someone in the nuts with a ball on a stick?”

Gabriel winced. “I’ve apologised to Sam more times than I can count. What more can I do?”

Dean looked ready to start a list of things, but Sam quickly cut him off.

“Could we be dealing with a dokkaebi?” He asked and Gabriel contemplated the thought for a moment before nodding slowly.

“If we are, the only way to beat them is to challenge them to a wrestling match or a ssireum as they call it. They can’t refuse but they’re extremely crafty and fantastic at the sport. They have a weak right side and to win, you’ll have to take advantage of that.”

“So wrestle a goblin, jab it in the right side and, what? It’ll just… go away?” Asked Dean and Gabriel nodded again.

“Bullets and blades will have no effect on them so it’s wrestling or nothing.” He shrugged. “Dokkaebi don’t like to lose.”

“Won’t they just go and bother someone else though?” Asked Sam and Gabriel shook his head.

“Not for a few decades. They’re really sore losers.”

Dean’s mouth drew into a thin line. He didn’t like the idea of letting the creature escape, but if there was no way to kill it and no other way to get rid of it, then banishing would have to do.

“Anything else we should know?” He asked. “Abilities, tricks?”

Gabriel pondered the question for a moment before pulling a face. “They have a magic club that they use a little like a wand. It can bring them anything they ask of it, but since it can’t create anything new, it can only steal what already exists.” He paused. “Oh, and they appear in a ring of blue flames, so you’ll know if you’re facing one.”

Dean nodded. “Right, so summon a goblin, hit its right side and watch out for the magic club. Got it.”

“Who’s facing this thing?” Asked Sam and Dean shot him a pointed look and placed his right fist on the flattened palm of his left hand. Sam chuckled and mirrored his stance.

Both angels rolled their eyes as the brothers squared off in their game but they blinked in surprise when Dean reigned victorious with scissors. The older Winchester grinned in delight and Sam raised a shocked eyebrow as Dean threw his hands up excitedly like a child.

“Alright,” chirped Dean with a smirk. “Let’s go wrestle a goblin.”

 

* * *

 

They placed a generous offering of fruit in the barn and looked around their dim surroundings warily. Dean eyed up escape routes and weapons and grumbled under his breath about how dim the lighting in the barn was. He’d be lucky if he could see the little monster.

“Any idea how to summon it?” Asked Dean. “A ritual or something?”

Gabriel shrugged uselessly. “Just… uh… challenge it.”

Dean scowled and cast his gaze to the fruit before closing his eyes.

“Um… to the powerful dokkaebi who inhabits this pig farm… I… uh… I challenge you to a ssireum.” He cracked an eye open. “Or a wrestling match, in case I said it wrong.”

Sam rolled his eyes but held his breath as they waited for the dokkaebi to appear. 

Nothing happened.

Dean frowned and kicked a stray apple towards the pile of fruit in the centre of the barn.

“We bring you an offering of food?” He tried.

Still nothing.

“You sure this is the right way to challenge them?” Asked Dean, glancing at Gabriel and the archangel crossed his arms.

“As far as I know. I’m not in the habit of wrestling dokkaebi.”

Dean pursed his lips and glanced around the barn again.

“Come on, I thought you loved wrestling? I’m like a sitting target for you.”

No blue flames burst into existence. There was no movement at all.

Dean huffed impatiently. “This is stupid. We’re probably not doing this right.”

Castiel tilted his head. “We felt the evil presence in one of the sow sheds. Maybe we should challenge it there instead?”

“I don’t want the piglets getting in the way,” protested Dean. “What if I stand on one?”

“Gabriel and I will keep them safe,” assured Castiel before glancing to his brother, who nodded in agreement.

Sam shrugged. “It’s worth a shot, Dean.”

“Fine,” Dean grunted before trudging to the sow shed the angels had first discovered the presence in. They were lucky it was dark so no one could see them snooping around, although with two out of three farmers being soulless, it probably wouldn’t matter if they were spotted anyway.

Dean stood in the centre of the sow shed and his lips drew into a thin line as he let his hands settle over his hips.

“I… wish to summon the dokkaebi who inhabits this farm. I want to challenge it to a ssireum.”

Once again, no response.

Dean sighed.

“Yeah, this isn’t working. We sure it’s a dokkaebi?”

Gabriel shook his head slowly as he glanced around the shed.

“It’s almost certainly not. You’ve challenged it twice now and it hasn’t appeared. Dokkaebi can’t resist a ssireum, especially against a human; they think they’re weaker and clumsier.” As Dean frowned in protest, Gabriel shook his head again, more confidently.

“They always come without fail when challenged. Whatever we’re hunting, it’s not a dokkaebi.”

Dean scrubbed a hand down his face as Sam scowled and tried to think back to what else he’d read on Korean monsters.

As the others threw ideas back and forth about what it was they could be hunting, Castiel noticed Rachel had left her notebook on one of the slats the made up the pig pens. Curious, he wandered over and flicked through it.

Most of it appeared to be penned by her father, but the last few pages were neater and more legible; clearly written by Rachel. As he was scanning through, he noticed an important-looking couple of pages that held each sow’s identification number and any special features that needed to be taken note of about each individual, including past medication, history and such.

There was one common feature between all of them.

They were all imported from Hida.

Castiel blinked and glanced up at his friends as realisation struck.

“These animals were imported from Japan,” he announced and the others turned to him in confusion. “Maybe something else was imported with them in one of those crates,” he suggested and Sam’s eyes widened.

“Wait, so we could be looking for a Japanese monster, not a Korean one?”

Castiel nodded and Sam’s eyes brightened. They had a new lead.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Asked Dean. “Come on. Let’s get rid of this thing.”

They tumbled into the Impala and set off for the motel with new questions.

 

* * *

 

“It’s a _Katakirauwa_ ,” stated Sam suddenly, eyes widening as he read deeper into the lore. “It says here that the Katakirauwa takes the form of a black piglet. It casts no shadow and has one ear and red eyes. Basically, it’s a primitive form of Japanese demon that targets lone individuals and runs between their legs to drain them of their soul, leaving them a shell of their former self.” He glanced over to the others urgently.

“Rachel said her father had noted that one of the sows had only birthed eleven piglets, but she counted twelve. The extra piglet was missing an ear.” 

Dean blinked. “It was right under our noses,” he groaned and Castiel frowned.

“And Rachel has isolated that piglet away from the others. She’s left herself open to attack if she enters the room alone with it.” Castiel shook his head. “She’s been attempting to feed it by hand.”

“She’s in danger,” said Sam, rising from his chair. “We need to kill that thing before it’s too late. Any ideas?” He looked to the angels for inspiration but it seemed as though this was a new case for them. They’d never come across a Katakirauwa before and as such, they knew next to nothing about their traits and how to vanquish one.

“It’s a pig,” snorted Dean. “A meat cleaver will probably do the trick. If not, we have Ruby’s knife and two angels on hand. Pretty sure they can beat most demons, especially primitive ones that take the form of uncooked sausages.” He glanced at the clock. “And whilst I’m all for rescuing the girl and saving the day, I’m pretty sure Rachel wouldn’t appreciate us showing up at her doorstep at three o’clock in the morning.”

Sam frowned, ready to argue. “But Dean-”

“Dude, I’m not going to the farm in the dead of the night, clutching a carving knife and demanding she show us a deformed piglet so we can cut out its heart.”

“Then let’s not tell her and just get on with the job,” reasoned Sam but Dean glared at him.

“I need sleep! I’ve driven to that farm and back twice today already; I’m not making it a third. We’ll go first thing in the morning.”

Sam sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

“Fine, but if Rachel’s a zombie by the time we get there, you can take the blame.”

“Great,” huffed Dean before collapsing backwards onto the mattress. “Now get out of my room.”

Sam rolled his eyes and gently grasped Gabriel’s arm before leading him out of his brother’s room. Castiel shook his head in amusement and snapped his fingers and suddenly, both hunter and angel were donning sleepwear. Dean glanced at his body once before smiling tiredly. 

“You’re picking up too many tricks from Gabe.”

Castiel crawled into bed and snuggled into his lover when Dean finally made the effort to slide beneath the covers.

“I hardly think you have any reason to complain,” the angel murmured as he rested his head on Dean’s chest. The hunter smirked and wrapped his arms around Cas.

“Never said you weren’t awesome,” he pointed out and Castiel hummed in satisfaction at that before closing his eyes.

“Sleep,” he commanded softly. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“You’d better be,” yawned Dean as he held his mate tighter and drifted off contentedly.

 

* * * 

 

Nine o’clock the next morning saw Team Free Will creeping around the farm in hopes of finding the demonic piglet without alerting Rachel to their presence. If they were lucky, they would be able to kill the piglet and dispose of it without anyone spotting them and then they would be out of the farm and returning home to the bunker without a fuss.

As with most of their luck, that’s not how things panned out.

Rachel was nowhere to be found that morning, so the hunters and angels checked every barn and storage room in hopes of stumbling across the demon. They now wished they’d paid attention to where Rachel housed sick animals. 

Their blades (and in Dean’s case, machetes) were hidden in their jacket pockets and they kept a firm grip on them as they scoped out the farm. Sam had even remembered to bring salt and a flask of holy water and he brushed his fingers over them every so often, reassuring himself that he was well-prepared for a fight with an unfamiliar demonic being.

After a few minutes of unsuccessful hunting, they came to a shed which was planted a little distance away from the rest of the animal houses. As they neared it, they could hear quiet grunts and the odd high-pitched squeal. 

They opened the door carefully and through the crack between the frame and door, they could see a group of tiny piglets of varying colours and shapes curled under a heat lamp. They weren’t all that active and some looked extremely unwell and Sam and Dean grinned because they’d finally located the isolation room.

They burst through the door, wielding their weapons as they scanned the pen for the one-eared piglet, but froze when they heard a horrified gasp from somewhere to their right.

The room smelled strongly of milk powder and straw and the air was warm to the point that the Winchesters were uncomfortable. The dusty ceiling light being on should have been their first indication to be a little more cautious when entering the building as sat in the corner of the room was Rachel, the one-eared piglet in her arms as she tried to force the milk-bottle teat past its lips.

She stared at their weapons in mortification and as Dean held his hands up to placate her, raising the machete without thinking, she screamed and bounced to her feet, the piglet in her arms squealing in surprise.

“Wait, no! You don’t understand,” hurried Dean as he stepped towards the demonic piglet, which stared back with dim red eyes and Rachel screamed louder and tucked the tiny creature into her chest, protecting it from his outstretched hands.

“Get out!” Rachel yelled. “Get away from me!”

“We don’t want to hurt you,” said Sam desperately. “It’s the piglet we’re after. Just hand him over and I promise it’ll-”

“You stay away from us!” Snarled Rachel, eyes darting around the shed as she searched for an escape.

“That’s not really a piglet,” tried Dean taking another step closer whilst simultaneously grimacing at the racket the other frightened piglets were producing.

Rachel suddenly brandished a long metal pole with a metallic rope looped at the end of it – a type of snare for catching pigs. She waved it at Dean threateningly as she tucked the demonic creature into her side and the hunter frowned at the snare for a few moments before Rachel abruptly looped it around his wrist and yanked hard until it clamped around the bone and forced him to release his weapon to the sound of a sickening crack. He cried out in pain and Rachel tugged the snare off his wrist to hit Sam in the head with the pole. The younger Winchester staggered backwards and Rachel charged at the two angels, wielding the snare like a spear.

Shocked by her fierceness, both angels leapt away and Rachel escaped with the piglet. She sprinted into the yard, cursing her boots for hindering her speed and Gabriel and Castiel raced after her, the Winchesters not too far behind.

In a flutter of wings, Castiel appeared in front of her and she gasped and tried to whirl around only for the seraph to grasp her arm. In her panic to break free, she dropped the piglet and it squealed in terror as it hit the ground. 

Rachel kicked at Castiel’s legs and the seraph grunted and loosened his grip just enough for the young girl to slip away but as she bent to pick up the frightened creature, it scampered through her legs.

The light faded from her eyes and she paused, staring blankly for a few seconds as a bluish-white stream of energy slithered out of her body and into the red-eyed piglet. The hunters and their angels watched in fascination as the piglet stopped, shook itself off and turned back around to blink at them as it absorbed the remaining energy of Rachel’s soul. It cast no shadow as it trotted forwards and it sniffed at the zombified Rachel for a moment before wiggling its tail, seemingly satisfied, as though it had been fed.

Then it turned to the four men, assessing each of them in turn before its gaze landed on Dean who was cradling his broken wrist. It grunted and wiggled its tail once more before breaking out into a gallop as it aimed for Dean’s legs.

Dean gasped and scarpered backwards but it was clear the demon was quicker and it squeaked in delight as it spotted an opening between Dean’s legs. 

Gabriel appeared in front of the piglet just as it was about to nose-dive between the hunter’s legs and he picked it up by the scruff of its neck and held it up in the air, watching its little legs keep moving for a few seconds before it noticed it wasn’t touching the ground. It grunted in protest and sniffed at Gabriel like any normal piglet and Gabriel cautiously cradled it in his arms and watched it nose at him before settling down contentedly. With another wiggle of its tail, it closed its eyes and buried its head in the crook of Gabriel’s elbow, drifting off to sleep.

It was almost cute.

Dean’s chest heaved as he held his throbbing wrist and he carefully made his way over to Gabriel, glaring at the piglet suspiciously as Sam and Cas jogged over.

“Aww,” Sam said, unable to help himself as he watched the piglet nestle down into Gabriel’s arms and even Castiel quirked a smile. It almost looked like a normal baby pig.

Dean glared at them all indignantly before yanking the creature from Gabriel’s grip, trapping it under his arm and slicing its head clean off with his machete. 

A flash of blue-white light burst from the creature’s body and separated into five parts. One light shot directly into the sky as the others raced into four separate directions; one slamming into Rachel’s chest, knocking her backwards.

Dean picked up the halves of dead Katakirauwa and threw them into a thick bush as he turned to Rachel with a charming smile and a damaged hand shoved into his pocket.

Sam shot his brother a filthy glare as Cas and Gabe pulled a face, but they followed Dean as he approached the confused woman.

“What… what happened?” She groaned, holding her head and her memories must have returned quickly because she glanced up sharply at the hunters and their angels and scrabbled backwards.

“The piglet… where is he? What have you done with him?” She looked furious and Dean back off a little.

“…He escaped. Ran into the field behind the house. Sorry, couldn’t catch him.”

Rachel stood, eyes flashing with wariness and anger.

“Liar,” she hissed. “You were going to kill him. I saw your weapons. Where is he?”

Sam held his hands up. “We don’t know. He ran off.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes. “Who are you? Why are you here with weapons?” She backed up, face hard. “If you don’t get off this farm right now I’m calling the cops. You’re not agents.” She noticed the blood on Dean’s jacket and her eyes blew wide.

“You’re murderers!” She concluded. “Get away!” She screamed, stumbling backwards as she fumbled for the phone in her pocket. “Get off my property!”

There were a couple of concerned shouts in the distance and a few seconds later, Daniel and Harry came skidding around the corner, faces pale and worried over their sister’s screams.

“Rach? What’s wrong? Who are those men?” Harry yelled as he closed in on her and Rachel looked caught off-guard for a moment, gaping at her non-soulless brothers in shock before slowly turning to Sam, Dean, Cas and Gabe with renewed fear and confusion.

“Get away from her,” snarled Daniel protectively and when Rachel next blinked, the four mysterious men were nowhere to be found.

She stared at the spot they’d just been standing in a mere three seconds ago and Harry and Daniel skidded to a halt and gaped at the spot too. There were no traces of any of the men and as the three siblings glanced at each other nervously, they silently agreed to never speak of what they’d seen again. 

Nobody would believe them anyway.

With a gulp, Rachel cautiously grabbed her brothers’ hands and led them inside the house. They had a lot to discuss and it wasn't long before the family began to grieve for their dead father and detained mother.

 

* * *

 

Sam and Dean’s heads spun for a second as they landed in the Impala with their angels. 

“A little warning would be nice next time,” grumbled Dean, closing his eyes to make the ground stop swaying. Castiel gently touched two fingers to the hunter’s temple and the nausea cleared.

“Apologies,” said Cas. “We thought flying would be easier than running.”

Sam smiled gratefully at Gabriel when the angel cured his nausea. “Yeah well, I didn’t feel like trying to explain everything either and I don’t think those guys were going to give us much opportunity to do so.” He shrugged. “So, thanks. You saved us a lot of trouble.”

The angels grinned proudly at the praise and Dean chuckled quietly and patted Cas’ back in approval before firing up the ignition. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the seraph had healed his hand.

“We done here?” Asked Dean. “I’m ready to go home.”

Sam nodded and settled into Gabriel’s side in the backseat. The angel was a very accomplished pillow.

“The monster’s dead, the people have their souls back and we escaped relatively unharmed. Today was a productive day,” hummed Sam as Gabriel wrapped an arm around him.

Dean smiled as the air pressure around him changed and something feather-light and invisible settled around his shoulders. A wing. 

He glanced at his angel fondly as they began their journey back to Kansas. “Yeah. I think you’re right.” A wicked smirk crept over his face and Cas rolled his eyes because he knew his mate was going to say something that would make them all want to duct tape his mouth shut.

“Anyone up for bacon?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this short fic. I'm considering making a series of case fics, each with a different monster the show hasn't covered yet. Obviously with Gabriel and a bit of fluff between the boys ;) Depends what kind of monsters I can find.
> 
> Also! If you want to friend me on FB for a chat about anything or fangirl/boy about something, my name is 'Dancing Dog' ;)


End file.
